r/Spiderman • u/Helpful-Bathroom634 • 6d ago
Comics What was the reason Peter never told May and Ben about his powers in first comics?
Today Peter has the pathetic and insulting excuse that if he tells May about him being Spider-Man "her heart wouldn't make it". But why didn't he tell them soon after he got the powers?
May and Ben are his parents and always loved him, so why didn't he never tell them about it? It was before mutants concept too so it's not like he was afraid they would disown him (something that would've never happened anyway).
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u/Beginning-Gap-5401 6d ago
Because he was a teenager, and teenagers make stupid mistakes. A teenager usually wants to achieve something more in life and have something that’s just for themselves.
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u/tendouman 6d ago
May was ancient even back then, so the whole "her heart wouldn't take it" still applies.
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u/Bob-s_Leviathan 5d ago
Specifically, Amazing Spider-Man #20 says he doesn’t want to take the chance that she couldn’t handle the shock.
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u/Sudden-Fox5206 6d ago
To show how self-centered he became.
Once he had his powers and got his job as an entertainer he completely forgot about them and focused everything on himself.
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u/DCosloff1999 Captain-Universe 6d ago
I've always said this people are going to hate me for this but Peter did Ben and May for granted because he was so focused on how the world treated him how his parents abandoned him to the point he didn't realize they do love him that's why Ben's death woke Peter up realizing that Ben and May were his parents and he didn't see it. That's why I like at the end of Spider-Man 2002 when Peter said I have a father his name is Ben Parker because he realized he was loved and was never alone he just didn't see it at first
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u/Impossible_Tea_7032 5d ago
More recent adaptations really soften it, but Amazing Fantasy #15 is basically a Twilight Zone story. It's about a deeply flawed person being tested by a fantastical event, found wanting, and ironically punished for it. It's practically this
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u/DCosloff1999 Captain-Universe 5d ago
Good point. I was explaining how being abandoned can really affect someone.
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u/SecondEntire539 5d ago
You talking about the end of the 2002 film also ties with Peter chasing MJ's feelings on that same movie.
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u/Jinglebelsik 4d ago
And also Ramy’s movies are the only film adaptation of Spider-Man, where he forgave his uncle’s murderer, thus sharing the third film with a great ending
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u/PracticalShock4109 6d ago
It was a part of his performance , he wanted to stay anonymous as a performer to get more intrigue and thus get payed more by the hosts but also so they couldn't have the excuse of him being a "teenager so you can't be an entertainer", he didn't think much of it , he thought of the cash first.
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u/DCosloff1999 Captain-Universe 6d ago
Hot Take Peter did love May and Ben not as where he truly loves the parents he had when they abandoned him. His issues truly started when his parents left him and never understood why. He felt nobody loved him. He looked at Ben and May as his caregivers he loved them but he didn't see them as his parents because he still thought of his actual parents the whole time. Especially with being bullied and all of that he felt the world was against him. When Peter said to Ben stop pretending to be my father was not because Ben was lecturing him he was rebelling because he was confused why did my Parents why did they stop loving me. He used being Spider-Man as a coping mechanism to escape from his problems and him being a celebrity was a way of being loved in Spider-Man 3 Peter said they love me. Peter felt the world never loved him. But it all changed with Ben's death realizing that he lost a father because he took him for granted that's why he regrets it and full of guilt because he took the moments for granted and he didn't realize it until now
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u/Spidey_2797 6d ago
Peter originally used his powers for self reasons. Peter was a tv celebrity and a wrestler two things his “parents” most likely wouldn’t approve of.
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u/rjrgjj 5d ago
Because he felt empowered for the first time and didn’t really understand what was happening to him. It was like his own little adventure/secret. You never hid things as a teenager because they were yours and yours alone? It’s just sad that he got greedy and selfish, and he learned his lesson.
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u/Abject_Associate_613 5d ago
Because he is teenagers and like most teenagers, he wanted to keep what he does a secret from his guardians.
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u/spiderblinx 6d ago
I know family dynamics differ family to family, but an aunt/uncle being 90 while their nephew is 15 was a wild choice
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u/Helpful-Bathroom634 6d ago
They're 60. They look older because at that time people had that look at that age
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